Warehouse pallets, or "skids", used for palletizing stored and shipped merchandise and adapted to accommodate the prongs of a fork-lift, are traditionally and almost universally made sandwiching three spaced longitudinal 2 inches by 4 inches (5 cm.times.10 cm), runners between a number plane-defining crosswise slats which are nailed to the runners. There have, however, been a number of alternative designs proffered, some of which utilize metallic or metal tubular construction as does the inventor of the instant skid. The following U.S. Pat. Nos. disclose such pallets:
3,981,249 PA1 2,544,743 PA1 3,748,814 PA1 3,851,981 PA1 4,112,854 PA1 3,701,326 PA1 3,227,108
Pertinent to the instant invention, there also exists pallet stacking frames in the form of tubular steel members which rest on the edges of currently used wooden pallets and define a platform spaced several feet above the pallet to support a second pallet.
One of the drawbacks of existing wood pallets is their tendency to break in the middle due to the weight of the palletized merchandise toward the sides of the pallet from the prongs. Additionally, utilization of wood causes an inherent weakness problem compared to the use of structural steel. Although as mentioned above, a number of metallic pallets have been designed, they all suffer from design problems and are either too flimsy for the rugged, frequently abusive manner in which they are handled, or they are too complex and intricate to be economically practical.